James Engineering Pty Ltd v ABB Australia Pty Ltd & Anor

[2019] NTCA 7

NT Court of Appeal

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For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Jurisdictional error
4. › Adjudicator under construction contracts legislation
5. › Failure to consider respondent's set-off claim
6. › Whether failure to exercise core statutory function amounted to jurisdictional error
7. › Whether determination was a nullity
8. › Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (NT), ss 33(1)(b), 34(1)(a)
1. Building and Construction Law
2. › Security of payments legislation
3. › Adjudication of payment disputes
4. › Scope of adjudicator's obligations
5. › Whether adjudicator required to consider respondent's counterclaim or set-off raised as defence to payment claim
6. › Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (NT), ss 4, 8, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34

Quick Take

Practitioners in NT construction adjudications should note that an adjudicator must consider a respondent's set-off or counterclaim raised as a defence to a payment claim on its merits, and failure to do so constitutes jurisdictional error rendering the determination a nullity.